You really shouldn't take it so seriously Andrew, you obviously belong in the "there is still lots of great stuff out there" camp, but I think if you read below most of the postings in these threads are ponderings, musings and idle thoughts on the state of the scene, not calls for it to be outlawed, although that might be an idea for new albums by .... no I'll not get personal ....

Nobody has laid out a blueprint for a "better world" but I do miss the days when major labels ruled the world. In retrospect they created some great music and they were a great filter against anything and everything getting released .. the technology which freed great (IwhoeversHO) artists to break free of major label shackles and that has allowed some things to get (re)released that would never have seen light of day now means that we all (with the assistance of sources like yourself) have to be our own A&R man sifting through piles of poo to find nuggets and frankly - I preferred it when I had unwittingly subcontracted that job out ...

In answer to your questions, I would like to see more quality less quantity from the melodic labels. I'm not averse to somebody putting out a cracking AOR album in 2001, that can still be done even 20 years after the heyday of the style. I don't know how label finances stack up but I'd presume, somebody correct me if I'm wrong, there must be a benefit in avoiding the "eggs in one basket" syndrome which is causing this glut of releases.

IMPO, yes some bands should give up and do the cars thing ... I wouldn't even let some of them near a jingle... but they'l do what they want and what economic realities allow ... good luck to them just like good luck to every bossa nova mixed barber shop band, country-punk outfit, reggage/skiffle crossover band or Stockhausen-influenced trumpet quartet out there making music I don't enjoy.

I'll try not to do much more posting on this topic. I don't think I'm in some sort of vociferous minority and even if I am I'll still post - just as did the first person to mention Marvelous3, SR-71, Alabama Supershnozzle and all those other bands who don't mean anything to me but seem to have moved from a distant blip on the radar to being a very definite alternative / second home for MR fans.

You should continue doing whatever you want and if the considered doubtings of a few people who know what they're talking about are putting you off this much, I do hope you never stop and think what the wider music world thinks of the genre! Your site is great - you know it is. Else why would an old curmudgeon like me keep coming back ......